Vodafone takes on One-2-One in cut price mobile war

Orange and Cellnet expected to enter fray next week

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The war over dirt cheap mobile phone calls has just got messier, with Vodafone slashing charges to match rival One-2-One. The UK's largest mobile phone operator yesterday announced plans to offer 250 minutes of free calls to subscribers to its £24.99-a-month service, instead of 180 minutes. Vodafone laughed off accusations that the offers were in response to One-2-One's cuts earlier this week. But it will be matching One-2-One's off-peak charges until October. New subscribers are being offered the company's local call saver option free until that date -– where off-peak calls cost 2p a minute. Peak rates have been cut by an average of 12 per cent, amid company claims that users will save £151 a year, according to today's The Guardian newspaper. Fellow rivals Cellnet and Orange are yet to respond, but earlier this week Orange said it would be very likely to match One-2-One's budget tariffs. ®